When it comes to the latest and greatest on streaming, we’re pretty passionate here at Pocket-lint. From thebest moviestoTV shows we can’t stop obsessing over, there is a lot of entertainment to love in the streaming era. However, it can be tough to stay up to date with your favorite media, especially withrising pricesand a constantly-shifting constellation of apps and services to keep track of.
Enter"The Streaming Scene."
So without further ado, let’s talk streaming!
The Roku Ultra made my home smarter, the streaming was just a bonus
The Roku Ultra is an underrated smart home device.
The plan to get streamers to watch more commercials seems to be working
It’s no secret that one of the big motivators behind theincessant streaming price hikeswe’ve seen over the past few months was to get consumers so fed up with high prices that they moved down to ad-supported plans. And while you might be asking yourself why streamers would even want consumers to pay less for their product in the first place, the truth is, they don’t.
When consumers watch ads, streaming services get paid by advertisers. And that money has been increasing exponentially in recent months. Just a few weeks ago, Netflix reported that its revenue rose 16% to $10.2 billion in 2024, largely thanks to ad revenue growth, which doubled over the previous year. So even though Netflix might like it if you paid$25 a monthto stream Bridgerton, Stranger Things, and Cobra Kai, if you opt for the $8 per month ad-plan, and watch for just a few hours a week, you’ll likely be making Netflix a lot more money in the long run than those paying more than triple for the highest tier of the service. And with Netflixspending more money on content than ever, they’re undoubtedly banking on your eyeballs, bringing them as many dollars as possible.
The Streaming Scene: Disney+ enters its cancel era, plus Netflix spends $18 billion
Disney+ cancels an entire genre of projects, Netflix lays out its content spending strategy, plus Traitors comes to a thrilling end.
Disney+ copies Apple TV+ by releasing episodes of Andor for free before season 2
It’s actually a good strategy
Though Star Wars series Andor was a modest hit when it was released in 2022, if you missed it, Disney has announced that the entire first season of Andor is now streaming on Hulu (even if you don’t have the Disney+ add-on), and if you don’t have either streamer Episodes 1-3 of Season 1 have been added toYouTube for free. This is a very smart move on Disney’s part, and I hope more streamers promote their shows with free episodes in the future, as it has seemingly worked wonders for Severance and will likely have a similar effect on Andor.
How to watch all the Star Wars movies and shows in order
Disney+ is expanding the Star Wars Universe. So it’s never a bad time to start a rewatch the entire series.
Daredevil: Born Again gets off to a promising start
It’s like the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen never left
Daredevil: Born Again
Plenty of people have a favorite Marvel character, but I’ve never been able to choose just one. Instead, I have a top three. In no particular order, those three have always been Spider-Man, Bucky Barnes, and Daredevil. I genuinely believe the Daredevil Netflix series was one of the best film comic adaptations of all time, and when news broke that Disney was reviving the series, I was excited to see the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen return, but also incredibly nervous that Disney might not know what to do with a character that, both on screen and on the page, hasn’t shied away from some very dark themes.
However, I have to say that I have been impressed with the initial run of episodes that have been released so far. The series feels very modern (2018, when the final Netflix season was released, might as well have been a lifetime ago), but thanks to some clever writing, this updated Matt Murdock still feels like the same character that TV fans fell in love with a decade ago.
With intense action sequences, thought-provoking dialogue, and a triumphant return to the courtroom, Daredevil feels fresh and relevant while maintaining that gritty ruthlessness that fans have grown to love. If you haven’t checked into this series yet, I highly recommend it, especially if you’re a comics fan. Though Marvel’s recent output has been uneven, to say the least, this is shaping up to be one sequel that actually gets the job done.
YouTube is an OK streamer, but I made it better with these 5 hacks
You need to treat it a little differently if it’s going to compete with Netflix.
